Michael Cardenas, 17

Sept. 23, 2008, 9 p.m.

A 15-year-old Latino boy, Michael Cardenas, was shot to death Tuesday night at Veterans Park in Bell Gardens.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators said they have no motive or suspect.

—Molly Hennessy-Fiske

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Five reader comments

9 years ago yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life...hearing what had happened. I couldn’t believe it, i was in shock cause just a few hours earlier before I saw u, u were about to leave the apartment & I was upset, u hugged me tight like u always did & said u luv’d me & that was the last I seen u. U didn’t deserve this, u had such a beautiful soul Mikey & no one can ever forget that. U left so many people w. Broken hearts but u also left so much luv. It’s still so unbelievable how they took u away from us, thinkin nah it can’t be Mikey.... I would give anything to be able to hear ur voice or see u again... Ur so missed. I wish we can go back in time & relive all the times you’d come to Vegas to visit & we’d chill @ my house, the energy u brought into the room will never be forgotten. U were the reason I wanted to follow u & start skating... goin w. U to the skatepark was always coo. They took u too soon... Hope u forever R.I.P , Luv u Whiteboy 💙

— Another Ve(g)as cousin, 4ever missin u 💙 Sept. 24, 2017 at 9:17 p.m.

mikey i remember when we got the call in vegas.. i couldnt believe what was going on.. i remember the exact time when i found out, it was 9:45 pm so many thoughts were running through my head i didnt know what to think. i remember seeing everyone crying but the most specific thing i remember was seeing your dad come in and i seen him crying and thats when my heart collapsed... i have never seen a grown man cry like that before thats a memory that will always be in my head. you didnt deserve any of this that happened to you. it seems like they took you away for no reason.. when you would come to vegas we would always be together no matter what just chillen and s@#t lookin for something to do. seems like im going in circles with this but mikey wasnt a gang banger he just tagged but still didnt deserve any of this. his most favorite thing to do was to skate and just be chill. i got your name tatted on my arm so you can always be with me no matter where i go.. its ashame how our family still doesnt talk even after s@#t like this i would of thought that it would of brought us closer together but i guess not i guess thats how life is. anyways i'll always love you dawg and my tia,amanda,boo boo,mellisa even though i havent talked to you guys in awhile theres still love over here for you guys. rip mikey i love you dawg - your cousin johny

— vegas cousin Jan. 24, 2012 at 8:50 p.m.